VERMIN AND TRAPPING 93 
up and off before they retreat. I have shot many a 
Stoat and weasel by training my gun on a hole, and 
pulling the instant the creature appeared. 
Viewing the question as impartially as I can, I 
am against the idea that if stoats and weasels were 
preserved there would be no rat plagues. Probably 
there would be fewer rats, but I think imper- 
ceptibly fewer, unless stoats and weasels became so 
numerous (and rabbits, upon which they chiefly prey, 
so scarce) that they would prove as great, or a 
greater, pest than rats. And besides, stoats and 
weasels would be inclined, in so far as they were 
inclined at all to attack rats, to deal with the least 
objectionable rats—those farthest away from the 
habitations of men—instead of those of which it is 
most desirable to be rid. Stoats and weasels seldom 
attack an old rat, though they will go for young 
rats when non-combative prey is not available. A 
mother rabbit, though occasionally she will succeed 
in driving a stoat away from her little rabbits, at 
her worst is nothing to a mother of rats. Is it 
likely, therefore, that a stoat or a weasel, by collar- 
ing a young rat, would run the risk of a fight to the 
death with its mother, when for the sake of a little 
trouble, and with slight risk of a kick or a scratch, 
young or old rabbits may be had? Rats never 
attack stoats and weasels of any age in cold blood, 
but only when they themselves or, much more 
often, their young are assaulted. Frequently I 
